Switzerland Opposes Unlimited Immigration

UPDATE: Dave Schuler corrects me below in comments: Switzerland isÂ NOT a member of the EU. My mistake, and thanks for the correction. This is a real head-slapper for me since Switzerland’s neutrality in all things is well-known, so EU membershipÂ was a poor assumption.Â The blogmind corrects all in the end.

In another sign that EU members are waking up to the fact that In another sign that some of the people in Europe are waking up to the fact that full-blown multiculturalism might not be the best thing for the member countries,Â their countries,Â Switzerland has voted to raise the barriers higher to immigrants and asylum-seekers. Now if only France, Italy, and Spain would follow. ABC story. The government had already narrowly passed the new legislation, but multiculturalist opposition forced it to a national popular referendum vote in which two thirds or more of the Swiss voted for the legislation.

According to early poll projections, Switzerland has voted heavily in favour of making it harder for asylum-seekers to gain entry to the rich Alpine state.

Despite warnings of damage to Switzerland’s humanitarian reputation, some two-thirds of voters appeared to have said ‘yes’ in referendums on laws limiting access for non-European job-seekers and making the country’s asylum rules amongst the West’s toughest.

They seemed also to have rejected a call by centre-left parties to redirect part of the central bank’s profit to the public pension system – a move opposed fiercely by the powerful Swiss National Bank.

“The revision of the asylum law looks to reserve Switzerland’s humanitarian tradition while at the same time stopping abuse,” right-wing Justice Minister Christoph Blocher, a strong backer of the new laws, had said during campaigning.